AuthorTopic: Fort Chaffee Permit hunts (Read 2894 times)

Anyone going this weekend? My cousin and I have a Sunday permit this weekend and next weekend.

What's the herd look like out there this year? According to the AGFC harvest report there were only 31 bucks taken off the base last season. You'd think with a year to grow that there will be even more serious bruisers out there this year.

RunnerHog

Why do you guys hunt deer with rifles equipped with a scope? Comeon now is that really hunting? Where I live I could probably kill two deer a day with two shots while driving to work. I don't consder that a hunt.

Runnerhog, if you ever hunted Chaffe then you would understand, some of it is closed to hunting execpt for 4 days a year, 2 for rifle, 2 for muzzle loading. Some area's are open for bow hunting but some will have their first legal hunters in them all year this weekend. There will be some nice bucks come out of there espically since the gun hunt was cancelled last year.

Good luck joco, I bought some slugs today just in case I want to cross the creek, but I have a hard time laying down my .308 with scope. If 7a gets too crowded I may have to wander around some.

Just don't wander up on me! I'll be west of the creek with a "primitive weapon". I used to have a good spot in 7 that I don't ever hunt anymore. Just below Engineer's Lake. It's a heck of a bottleneck as there's a creek that runs through there.

I wish they would open 2 again. There's some monsters in there that have been feeding off soybeans with no hunting pressure for the last few years.

If your hunting Sunday mine will hanging from the tree in my front yard by then, I drew first day. I like that little bottom below the lake there, that is like the spot I will be but just a little south of there. I agree about 2, if they kept it a shotgun area, I don't know what it would hurt.

RunnerHog

Runnerhog, if you ever hunted Chaffe then you would understand, some of it is closed to hunting execpt for 4 days a year, 2 for rifle, 2 for muzzle loading. Some area's are open for bow hunting but some will have their first legal hunters in them all year this weekend. There will be some nice bucks come out of there espically since the gun hunt was cancelled last year.

I guess if you like the meat then enjoy. I am not a bow hunter or a muzzle loader. I do shoot bench rest from 1000 yards with my 308. That is why I don't see the sport, with the right training and right equipment anyone can pile up deer from beyond 500 yards like shooting fish in a barrel.

I guess if you like the meat then enjoy. I am not a bow hunter or a muzzle loader. I do shoot bench rest from 1000 yards with my 308. That is why I don't see the sport, with the right training and right equipment anyone can pile up deer from beyond 500 yards like shooting fish in a barrel.

Where do you shoot 1000BR at? I'm looking for a place to shoot F-Class.

I guess if you like the meat then enjoy. I am not a bow hunter or a muzzle loader. I do shoot bench rest from 1000 yards with my 308. That is why I don't see the sport, with the right training and right equipment anyone can pile up deer from beyond 500 yards like shooting fish in a barrel.

Runner,Where me and my son will be hunting I have two shooting lanes one is 35 yards the other is 25 yards. My son has one of 15 yards and one of 25 yards. Don't think there are going to be any 100-1000 yard shots in my future. It won't be easy.

Runner,Where me and my son will be hunting I have two shooting lanes one is 35 yards the other is 25 yards. My son has one of 15 yards and one of 25 yards. Don't think there are going to be any 100-1000 yard shots in my future. It won't be easy.

If you want to shoot one from a click away at Chaffe you need to on one of the firing ranges, otherwise like joco said it's in close and be quick, you might get all of 3-5 seconds to decide if it's a shooter or not. If you get to watch one for 10-20 seconds consider yourself lucky, better have your scope all the way out and hope you see more than just hair in it.

I'll be in 7a Saturday morning. I'm sure it'll be crowded, but just hoping to get there early enough to get in the tree I want. Drew out next Saturday also. Will have to wait and see what happens this weekend to determine if I'll be there next weekend or not. How early you guys planning on getting there?

I'll meet my cousin a little around 5 in Barling. The gates open at 4:30, though. Probably get in there and sit in the truck for a little while to let people know there's already someone there. We hunt west of 96, but I think the majority of folks go to the east.

The gates on 96 don't open until 4:30. Guess you can take a nap in the truck, eh? But I agree if you are going to hunt any of the 7s I would get there early and park so that everyone knows there is already someone there.

We will be in the truck for a couple of hours before they open the gate. It has becomen some sort of tradition that we show up early take a cat nap and then check in when the gates open. It is important to not only be parked where you want to be but also be in the tree you want to be in before everyone shows up. These first day hunts are more like a 900 person deer drive than a typical wait for one to come by chasing a doe hunt.

Nope, not 1000 yard ranges. Only one I know of in this state is at Camp Robinson in Little Rock. I am not sure if Chaffee has a 1000 yard range since it is not a sniper base.

What caliber do you plan on shooting? What kind of rifle do you use?

Mine is a Remington 700 SS 308 5R Mil Spec. It's the most accurate rifle I have ever shot.

My rifle is a bit light for F-Class Open but I mostly want to compete against myself. It is a M700 in 7-08 with a Chanlynn heavy barrel in a Mcmillan A5. Weight comes in around 14 pounds. I had it built mostly for long range hunting so it's no where near the F-Class weight limit.

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RunnerHog

My rifle is a bit light for F-Class Open but I mostly want to compete against myself. It is a M700 in 7-08 with a Chanlynn heavy barrel in a Mcmillan A5. Weight comes in around 14 pounds. I had it built mostly for long range hunting so it's no where near the F-Class weight limit.

F/TR limit is 16 pounds which is what I shoot. There are a lot of other restrictions such as not muzzle brake and alteration of the rifle. In regular F class you can go up to 22 pounds.

I will be there the next two sundays. Does anyone know if area 6 is ok for rifles?

Like above...any area east of Vache Grass is open for rifles. What I think is interesting is that Range Control considers a muzzleloader a primitive weapon and the new muzzleloaders are just as accurate as most rifles at short distances. Of course, you've only got one shot so you better make sure it counts!

Like above...any area west of Vache Grass is open for rifles. What I think is interesting is that Range Control considers a muzzleloader a primitive weapon and the new muzzleloaders are just as accurate as most rifles at short distances. Of course, you've only got one shot so you better make sure it counts!

East of Vache Grass for rifles west of Vache Grass for shotguns or muzzle loaders.

By the way, a friend of mine says he has now seen two big cats on Chaffe, I have no reason to doubt him he has been hunting his whole life, he saw one running down the road in front of him. So that's just something else besides hog an deer to look out for.

Did anyone have any luck? I was there early enough to get the spot in 7a that I wanted and came out of there with a pretty nice buck. They checked it as a 10, but one point is questionable. He had an 18.5 inch inside spread, but 4 out of the 5 points on the right side are kind of messed up. Will post pics on the contest thread this week.Heard quiet a bit of shooting, but not as much as I'd expected. Did anyone see any hogs?

Hunted 4 and 5 west of Vache Grass. Saw some deer but nothing worth shooting. 5 and 5A east of the creek sounded like a war zone, though. We went for a drive around lunch time and a guy was dragging the biggest buck I have ever seen in person out of 5A. We stopped and took a look. It was a perfectly symmetrical 10 with 6 inch eye guards, over 10 inch g2s, g3s were almost the same and LOTS of mass. Absolute incredible deer. I bet there were 20 trucks parked along the road separating 5 and 5A, though. I don't think I could handle having that many people hunting that close to me.

We talked to one guy who said he shot an 8 point about 7:20 and saw it go down. He said he gathered up his stuff and walked down to where he shot it and some guy was already down there getting ready to gut the deer. He asked what he was doing and the guy said something like, "I shot this deer a long time ago." The guy responded, "Well that's my deer because I shot it and saw it go down." They bowed up on each other and the guy we were talking to backed down. That's a crazy freakin' story if it's true.

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RunnerHog

Hunted 4 and 5 west of Vache Grass. Saw some deer but nothing worth shooting. 5 and 5A east of the creek sounded like a war zone, though. We went for a drive around lunch time and a guy was dragging the biggest buck I have ever seen in person out of 5A. We stopped and took a look. It was a perfectly symmetrical 10 with 6 inch eye guards, over 10 inch g2s, g3s were almost the same and LOTS of mass. Absolute incredible deer. I bet there were 20 trucks parked along the road separating 5 and 5A, though. I don't think I could handle having that many people hunting that close to me.

We talked to one guy who said he shot an 8 point about 7:20 and saw it go down. He said he gathered up his stuff and walked down to where he shot it and some guy was already down there getting ready to gut the deer. He asked what he was doing and the guy said something like, "I shot this deer a long time ago." The guy responded, "Well that's my deer because I shot it and saw it go down." They bowed up on each other and the guy we were talking to backed down. That's a crazy freakin' story if it's true.

I think I was the only one in 7a who didn't kill one that morning. I killed two hogs in 5 right before dark. Huntinhog were you first through the gate on the east side?

Nope. I got to the gate about 3:05 or so coming from Greenwood on 96. If I were guessing I'd say I was somewhere between 15 and 20th truck coming from the south side. Of course there was also the lane coming from the north end, so I was probably the 30th-40th truck through the gate. Glad I got there as early as I did. I was thinking I was crazy for getting up that early when it was almost 8:00 and I hadn't even seen a deer yet. In the past when I've bow hunted this spot when 7a is open I've seen lots of deer. I didn't see anything till almost 8:00. From then till when I pulled the trigger at about 9 I saw 5, and I think the only buck was the one I shot. I did jump up another decent buck on the way the truck about 10:00. How big were those hogs you shot?